Profile: Charles Gates Dawes

Charles Gates Dawes was born on August 27, 1865, in Marietta, Ohio. His father, Rufus R. Dawes, was a Union general who later went into the lumber business and was elected to one term in Congress. Dawes earned a B.A. in 1884, and an M.A. in 1887 from Marietta College; in 1886, he earned a law degree from Cincinnati Law School. Dawes opened a law practice in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1887.

Dawes enjoyed early success dealing in real estate, leading him to other business ventures. He bought manufactured gas plants in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and Evanston, Illinois, where he moved his family. Working with his younger brothers, Dawes was wealthy by the age of 35.

Dawes served as the western treasurer of William McKinley’s 1896 presidential campaign. This earned him the position of Comptroller of the Currency, which he held from 1897 to 1901. In 1899, Dawes won from Congress funds for special examiners, freeing them from reliance on bank fees. He continued to argue for fixed salaries for all OCC examiners, but not until passage of the Federal Reserve Act in 1913 did Congress do away with the fee system.

Peace Prize Winner

After World War I, Dawes was appointed to head a commission charged with arranging for a defeated Germany to pay its war debts and regain economic stability. For his work on what became known as the “Dawes Plan,” Dawes was awarded the 1925 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Sir J. Austen Chamberlain.

Calvin Coolidge chose Dawes as his 1923 vice presidential running mate. In 1929, President Herbert Hoover appointed Dawes ambassador to Great Britain.

In addition to his talents as a financier and diplomat, Dawes was a skillful composer of popular music. The Tommy Edwards oldie, "It's All in the Game," was set to music that Dawes composed.

Dawes died in Evanston on April 23, 1951.

Sources: American National Biography and Ross, M. Robertson, The Comptroller and Bank Supervision.